New York Women in Communications, Inc.
Breakfast Conference
Apr. 20, 2004
Tiffany’s & W Hotel
The New York Women’s was a smash hit. The event started off at Tiffany’s, which is known for the world’s finest (and most expensive jewelry). Everyone went in to behold a wonderful breakfast with all of the trimmings, including fresh fruits, juices, muffins and more, bringing back the nostalgia of the very famous classic movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, starring Katherine Hepburn.
The first person to speak was the host, Beth O. Canavan, the Executive Vice President of Tiffany & Co. Beth thanked everyone for their attendance of the event, telling them she is honored to be a part of New York Women in Communications, Inc. Beth also expressed her delight in Tiffany’s being the provider of gifts that awarded at the prior evening’s Matrix Awards event, and with a grin, suggested everyone patronize Tiffany’s with a jewelry purchase. Beth then took pleasure in introducing the President of New York Women in Communications, Joannie C. Danielides
Ms. Danielies also thanked everyone for attending, commented that Tiffany’s was a great place to enjoy breakfast, and began to introduce a number of keynote speakers, all of who were high level professional women in their respective fields.
Shon Gables, anchorwoman for CBS’s “This Morning.”, Tovan Feldshuh, Broadway actress extraordinaire who was recently honored with the coveted Tree of Life award for her tremendous contributions to the field of show business, Donna Hanover, former First Lady for the City of New York, Sandra Bookman, Anchor and Reporter for WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News, and many more. The moderator briefly asked each of the speakers a few questions regarding their position and affiliation with the New York Women in Communications, Inc., including asking them what business ventures they would have partaken in had they not chosen their current profession.
After listening to these speakers, everyone boarded a bus bound for the elaborate very plush W Hotel, which was were the conference itself had taken place. There was an attendance of close to 200 people.
Joannie Danielides, the President, again got up to speak, thanking everyone again for attending, then proceeded to show a brief video about New York Women in Communications, Inc., which introduced its founding members, presented an overview of the organization and its objectives, and showed highlights of the previous evenings annual Matrix Awards Gala. Ms. Danielides then introduced ABC-News correspondent Lynn Sherr, who, in turn introduced the Emmy Award Winning Actress, Dana Delaney, after reading a bio-in-brief about Dana to the audience. Lynn then began to conduct an in-depth, conversation-style, interview with Dana regarding her acting career, role models (including Diane Keaton, who happens to be Dana’s close friend as well—Diane directed several movies as well as the Fox-5 Series, Pasadena, all of which Dana had starred in), path to success, and goals, including her own aspirations as a producer. After her interview Ms. Delaney, departed for Canada to work on her new Lifetime-TV movie, entitled “A Baby for Sale.”
Ms. Danielides then introduced the moderator for the next panel of speakers, the Editor at Large of Fortune Magazine, Pattie Sellers, who, in turn introduced the panelists for the next discussion, which as entitled Reaching Beyond: The Broader Path to Fulfillment and Success. The panelists included Beth Comstock, Vice President, and Chief Marketing Officer for GE, Ann Moore, Chairman & CEO of Time, Inc., and Pamela Thomas-Graham, President & CEO of CNBC, and NBC, Inc. The topics of conversation included highlights given by Ann Moore, on how women are becoming a dominant force in leadership throughout the country. Women today are no longer taking a back seat to many previously male-dominated leadership roles in corporate America; they are working harder, earning higher salaries than ever before, and, over-all are rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Other panelists followed suit, providing similar variations of the same powerful theme.
Everyone then enjoyed a coffee break as they better acquainted themselves with the other guests in attendance. The next panel scheduled, which was entitled Power is Not a Four-Letter Word, was introduced by Alix M. Freedman, Senior Editor of the Wall Street Journal. The panelists included Nancy Barry, President of Women’s World Banking, Karen Elliot House, Senior Vice President of Dow Jones & Publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Nancy Peretsman, Executive Vice President & Managing Director of Allen & Co., and Sheri Wilson-Gray, Former Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises. The topic of conversation among the speakers pertained to the acceptance of women being leading entrepreneurs in today’s society, thereby challenging the male population’s taboo-like viewpoints regarding their success. This was clearly indicated Ms. Barry’s comment that women, when placed into the right positions of power, could do a far better job, and, given they had been in these position of power in the past, would have not caused the kinds of messes the their male counterparts have caused. This same theme was reiterated, with a bit of variety, by the speakers in the panel. Following the panel, everyone enjoyed a wonderful anniversary lunch, which featured a generous-sized open buffet.
Following lunch, Donna Hanover, former First Lady for the City of New York, facilitated a conversation with Susan Strohman, Director and Choreographer, about triumphs and turning points. Donna first gave a brief overview of Ms. Strohman’s background, indicating that she graduated from the University of Delaware, worked with touring companies in Chicago, performed in Sugar Babies, choreographed a number of off-Broadway revivals, creating pieces for the New York City Ballet’s 50th Anniversary. Ms. Strohman’s other credits include “An Evening with the Boston Pops: A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein.” She also received the American Choreography Award for her work in Columbia Pictures’ feature film “Center Stage.”, and won her first Tony award for the 1992 musical “Crazy for You.”
Ms. Strohman talked about how her father, being a wonderful dancer, always had music in the house, and how his dancing, along with the music were a great inspiration to her career. She always adhered to her inspirational beliefs, that she had the opportunity to let her work be seen by so many people. She commented to that audience that many of the shows she had worked on had survived not only in New York, but in other parts of the world—London, Japan, and elsewhere. She said “I have to pinch myself.” in her barely believing the kind of success she had with her shows. The hit Broadway show “The Producers”, in fact, just opened in Australia, and Mel Brooks was also a very great inspiration to her. We at Liberty News Online would like to express our condolences to Ms. Strohman, as she recently lost her husband and partner in many special and wonderful theatre projects, to cancer. Ms. Strohman will be working for the next year and a half with Mel Brooks the legendary comedian and creator of “The Producers”, along with Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Nicole Kidman, on a movie version of this record-breaking Broadway hit.
The final panel for the day was entitled The Future of Communications: Surviving and Thriving in an Ever-Changing World, and was moderated by Geraldine Laybourne, the Chairman and CEO of Oxygen Media. The participant panelists were Jacqueline Leo, Editor in Chief of Reader’s Digest (USA), Dana Levy, Editor in Chief and Chairman of DailyCandy, Inc., Judy McGrath, Group President of MTV Networks, and Donna Speciale, President of US Broadcast. The theme covered what it takes to be successful in today’s fast-paced world.
We enjoyed this event immensely, and would like to thank Ms. Nicole Cukas and Christine Ennis from the Danielides Public Relations firm, and Ms. Judy Kalvin, from Kalvin Public Relations, who contributed in helping us set up interviews, making it possible for Liberty News Online Magazine to write about this event.
New York Women in Communications, Inc., founded in 1929, is a not-for-profit organization of nearly 900 communications professionals dedicated to promoting the highest standards throughout the industry and to providing education and leadership for the next generation. The membership encompasses senior executives and other experienced communicators from a wide range of enterprises, as well as young professionals and students of communications. Anyone who would more information regarding this organization may visit their website at http://www.nywici.org.
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The African American and Caribbean Section is headed by assistant editor Annette Johnson, and Liberty News Online Staff Writers contributing articles. It will cover articles about the African American and Caribbean communities throughout the U.S.A. For more information, feel free to email us at lncarib@hadofnyc.org. If you are interested in having us cover one of your events, feel free to notify us one week in advance, so we can add you to our master calendar, and have our Liberty News Staff come and write an article about your event. Feel free to email us at lnevents@hadofnyc.org, or telephone us at (718) 507-7616 between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm, and ask to speak to Annette or Steve